Skid-preventing footwear

ABSTRACT

A SKID-PREVENTING FOOTWEAR FORMED OF A THICK OUTSOLE MADE OF SOFT SPONGE OR MICROCELLULAR RUBBER AND HAVING OPENED CAVITIES SO THAT IT WILL EASILY YIELD UNDER THE WEIGHT OF A WEARER. THE CAVITIES HAVE APERTURES OPENING ON THE GROUND-CONTACTING SIDE OF THE OUTSOLE AND EACH HAS A DEPTH EXTENDING OVER THE MAJOR PORTION OF THE THICKNESS OF THE OUTSOLE. THE CAVITIES ARE SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER   A DISTANCE SUCH AS TO CREATE, BETWEEN THEM, SEPARATING WALLS THAT WILL EASILY YIELD WHEN THE OUTSOLE SETS ON A FLAT SURFACE OR ONTO AN OBSTACLE ON THE GROUND. THE OUTSOLE IS FURTHER INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH CLOSELY SPACED, SHORT, PROTUBERANCES DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN THE CAVITIES ON THE GROUND-CONTACTING SIDE OF THE OUTSOLE.

lvlimh 9, 1971 D GARDNER. l3,568,340

SKID-PREVENTING FOOTWEAR Filed Aprilvzs, 1'969 A.

ATTURNEY' Patented Mar. 9, 1971 3,568,340 SKlD-PREVENTING FOOTWEAR DenysGardner, Acton Vale, Quebec, Canada, assignor to The Acton Rubber Ltd.,Acton Vale, Quebec, Canada Filed Apr. 25, 1969, Ser. No. 819,297 Int.Cl. A43b 13/06 U.S. Cl. 36-32 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Askid-preventing footwear formed of a thick outsole made of soft spongeor microcellular rubber and having opened cavities so that it willeasily yield under the weight of a wearer. The cavities have aperturesopening on the ground-contacting side of the outsole and each has adepth extending over the major portion of the thickness of the outsole.The cavities are spaced from one another a distance such as to create,between them, separating walls that will easily yield when the outsolesets on a at surface or onto an obstacle on the ground. The outsole isfurther integrally formed with closely spaced, short, protuberancesdistributed between the cavities on the ground-contacting side of theoutsole.

The present invention generally relates to an improvement in footwearand more specifically to an improved shoe or boot sole construction foruse in footwear especially intended for walking and running on slipperysurfaces such as glazed or wet surfaces as well as on icy surfaces.

One object of the present invention and an important advantage thereoflies in the provision of a shoe or boot having a sole which is lesslikely to slip on icy or otherwise slippery walking surfaces.

Although the shoes or boots resulting from the present invention wereparticularly developed for use in the practice of sports that are playedon ice surfaces and without skates, such as the broom ball game, it isto be understood that numerous other occasions are contemplated wherethe wearing of such shoes will provide the advantages as aforesaid, suchas walking or running over highly polished and/ or waxed llioors.

Although the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention,as will hereinafter be made, refers to a broom ball shoe, it should beunderstood that such reference should not be interpreted as meaning thatthe invention relates strictly to such shoes.

More specifically, the skid-preventing footwear of the inventioncomprises a thick outsole made of sponge or microcellular rubber so softthat it will easily yield under the weight of a wearer. To increaseyield, the outsole is also formed with cavities having apertures openingon the ground-contacting side of the outsole. Each such cavity has adepth that extends over the major portion of the thickness of theoutsole. The cavities are spaced from one another a distance such as tocreate walls therebetween that will easily yield when the outsolesuddenly hits the ground while running or braking or sets onto anobstacle on the ground. Finally, the outsole is integrally formed withclosely spaced, short protuberances distributed between the cavities onthe ground-contacting side of the outsole whereby said protuberanceswill create air passages when the foot sets on the ground for the escapeof air from the cavities to avoid the creation of a skidpromoting aircushion beneath the outsole as well as allowing easy air inflow when thefoot is lifted.

A better understanding of the invention will now be afforded by thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment having reference to theappended drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, from the outsole side, of a boot madeaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the boot of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view, partly shown in crosssection, of theoutsole of the invention; the insole and part of the upper being shownin broken lines.

As can be seen, the boot having the outsole of the invention comprisesthe usual top 3 that merges into the upper (hidden) formed of the usualvamp that extends into the cap.

Preferably, and as best shown in FIG. 3, the outsole 1 is secured to amiddle sole 5 and is made of a flat molded piece of sponge ormicrocellular rubber suiciently soft that it will easily yield under theweight of the wearer. By sponge or microcellular rubber is meant acellular rubber obtained from a solid rubber compound as opposed to foamrubber obtained from liquid latex compound.

To increase yielding, outsole 1 is formed with a plurality of cavitiesor recesses 7 having apertures opening on the ground-contacting side ofthe outsole. As shown in FIG. 3, each cavity or recess has a depth thatextends over the major portion of the thickness of the outsole and, asillustrated in FIG. 2, cavities or recesses 7 are spaced from oneanother a distance such as to create, between the cavities, separatingwalls that will easily yield when outsole 1 sets on a flat icy surfaceor onto an obstacle on the ground such as 4 and 6 of FIG. 4.

Outsole 1 is further provided with closely spaced, short, protuberances9 distributed between the cavities and throughout the ground-contactingside of outsole 1. It is pointed out that protuberances 9 extendthroughout the at outsole although the drawings show them in spottedareas.

As aforesaid, these protuberances serve to create air passages when thefoot sets on the ground for the escape of air from the cavities to avoidthe creation of a skidpromoting air cushion beneath the outsole as wellas allowing easy air inow when the foot is lifted.

The opening of cavities or recesses 7 is circular and the depth thereofslightly smaller than the diameter of the opening. The cavities willpreferably be frusto-conical in cross-section as shown in FIG. 3 so asto be more easily unmolded. But said cavities could be of any othergeometrical ligure, i.e., pyramidal hexagonal or else, without divertingfrom the present patent objects, as long as their relative positioningin the outsole design provides wide cavity openings leaving thinyielding walls of even mean thickness between said cavities.

I have found that the outsole of the invention is particularly usefuland eicient as an anti-skid device where the thickness of the outsole 1and the diameter of the opening of cavities or recesses 7 areapproximately threequarters of an inch in a ratio of 1:1 with theprotuberances being about one-eighth of an inch in height and indiameter as a 1:1 ratio. Also, the shortest spacing between the cavitiesshould preferably be about equal to the radius of the opening of thecavities or recesses 7. It will of course be appreciated that thespacing can vary appreciably, the criteria being that the walls betweenthe cavities being of such a thickness that they will easily yield whenthe foot sets on the ground or on obstacles such as 4 and 6 illustratedin FIG. 4. This characteristic will provide an easily compressibleamorphous yielding mass resulting in an effective impact absorbingeffect that will hinder skidding of the shoe on slippery surfaces.

As to the protuberances 9, they will create numerous tiny passages forquickly exhausting air from the recesses 7 or for the air film betweenthe tips of these protuberances and the surface of the outsole at thelevel of the recess openings. This characteristic will provide fastadhering as well as fast releasing of the outsole surface, at each stepof the wearer. More important still, it will prevent the formation of askid-promoting air cushion between the outsole and the ground.

I claim:

1. A skid-preventing footwear comprising: a thick outsole made of softsponge or microcellular rubber and formed with cavities so that it willeasily yield under the weight of a wearer; said cavities havingapertures opening on the ground-contacting side of said outsole and eachhaving a depth extending over the major portion of the thickness of saidoutsole; said cavities being spaced from one another a distance such asto create, between cavities, separating walls that will easily yieldwhen said outsole sets on a flat surface or onto an obstacle on theground, whereby to facilitate absorption of the impact force of thestep; said outsole being further integrally formed with closely spaced,short, protuberances distributed between said cavities on theground-contacting side of said outsole, whereby said protuberances willcreate air passages when the foot sets on the ground for the escape ofair from said caivities to avoid the creation of a skid-promoting aircushion beneath said outsole and to allow easy inflow of air when thefoot is lifted.

2. A footwear as claimed in claim 1 wherein said soilcontacting side ofsaid outsole is generally flat throughout its length.

3. A footwear as claimed in claim 2 wherein the opening of each cavityis circular and the depth thereof is slightly smaller than the diameterof said opening.

4. A footwear as claimed in claim 3, wherein the thick, ness of saidoutsole and the diameter of said cavities are in the ratio ofapproximately 1:1, said protuberances beingy cylindrical and the heightand diameter being in the ratio of approximately 1:1.

5. In a skid-preventing footwear having an upper and a middle sole, theimprovement in the provision therewith of an outsole directly secured tosaid middle sole, said .outsole being fixed and made of soft sponge ormicrocellular rubber and formed with cavities so that it will easily'yield under the weight'of a wearer; said cavities having aperturesopening on theground-contacting side of said outsole; each cavity havinga depth extending over the major portion of the thicknessof saidoutsole; said cavities being, spaced from one another a distance such asto create, between cavities, separating walls that will easily yieldwhen ysaid outsole hits the ground or sets onto an obstacle on theground whereby to facilitate absorption of the impact of the step; saidoutsole being further integrally formed with closely spaced, short,protuberances distributed between said cavities on the groundcontactingside of said outsole, whereby said protuberances will create airpassages when the foot sets on the ground for the escape of air fromsaid cavities to avoid the creation of a skid-promoting air cushionbeneath said outsole and to allow easy inilow of air when the foot islifted.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 117,831 11/1939 Johnson36-32UX 921,452 5/1909 Pierce 36-59(C) 1,979,391 11/1934 Laybolt 36-322,663,097 12/1953 Giese 36-32X FOREIGN PATENTS 962,584 4/1957 Germany36-59(C) ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary Examiner

